Chetrit Organization Maintains Control of 404 Fifth Avenue
The Chetrit Organization is holding onto its Midtown office building through a creative transfer.
After a foreclosure case and $65 million in defaults threatened its control of 404 Fifth Avenue, the Chetrit Organization purchased the debt at a discount. The firm, run by Juda and Michael Chetrit, then followed up with a foreclosure sale against its own entity, winning it for a credit bid and maintaining ownership.
Although the Chetrit Organization (not to be confused with the similarly named Chetrit Group) has seen foreclosure cases, it has generally been able to work out debt and maintain control.
An affiliate of the Chetrit family bought the building — an eight-story landmarked property on the corner of West 37th Street and Fifth Avenue — in 1998. It is also known as the Stewart & Company Building.
The owner took out $65 million in loans against the property dating back to 2016, with Meyer Chetrit of the Chetrit Group signing some of the documents.
An affiliate of Blackstone launched a foreclosure case in January 2025, alleging maturity default.
Several months later, in June 2025, Chetrit Organization secured a discounted payoff of the debt, the Commercial Reporter first reported.
The new Chetrit-affiliated debt holder then initiated another foreclosure case on the property the following November. The borrower and debt holder in that case agreed to a judgment of foreclosure in May 2026. That agreement set the debt at nearly $84 million.
The foreclosure judgment was entered in July and the sale was completed with a credit bid earlier this month.
Christopher Milito, an attorney for the plaintiff with Morrison Cohen, declined to comment.
The Chetrit Organization has generally kept a lower profile than the Chetrit Group. The former was headed by brothers Joseph, Meyer, Juda and Jacob Chetrit. But Joseph and Meyer split off to start the Chetrit Group in 2011. After Jacob’s death in 2025, his son Michael took over leadership of the Chetrit Organization.
While the Chetrit Group has been plagued by personal judgments and aggressive lenders, the Chetrit Organization has generally been able to work out its debt and stay away from personal guarantees. It has worked out or refinanced loans on 459 and 427 Broadway, 393-401 Fifth Avenue, 404 Fifth Avenue and 65 Broadway.
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